Loose Threads
I talked about Gwyneth Paltrow on the podcast with . Answering listener questions was an absolute delight — don’t miss the full episode here.
Last week, the internet went crazy over Kate Middleton’s hair, which she wore in a (loathsome word incoming) bronde shade before seemingly reverting back to a darker brown. The Daily Beast’s royal correspondent Tom Sykes called it “influencer” hair and blamed the look on the departure of her longtime aide and stylist Natasha Archer. According to Sykes’s source, “She was her rock, so it’s a huge loss. I’m told she was someone who knew how to say, ‘maybe not’ to Kate which is so important.”
Back in Montecito, there might have been one fewer celebratory balloon arch erected over the weekend. The second season of Meghan Markle’s Netflix show With Love, Meghan failed to land in the top ten with fewer than 2.1 million views in its first week. Here’s a look in Google trends at interest in Kate’s hair (blue) versus Meghan’s show (red).
You have to hand it to Chloe Malle: there are worse first moves as HOEC (head of editorial content) for Vogue than giving the people 95 photos from the wedding of Becca Bloom, the TikTok star whose wealth remains fascinatingly palatable. Quothe Becca: “We arrived at our rehearsal dinner the way we love most: by boat.”
It’s Becca Bloom’s world, we’re all living in it. I swear mass jewelry places like Jewlr weren’t leaning into “everyday stack” language to market rings this much before Becca started talking about the various permutations of her stacks. (Their “double bar” ring feels Becca, minus the price.)
Lafayette 148’s new campaign is fronted by And Just Like That and The Morning Show star Karen Pittman. The brand is doing a whole “shop the look” thing for characters it dressed in The Morning Show, which is smart marketing given the internet’s obsession with TV clothes. This red suit, for instance, feels like something people will covet and look up.
And now, today’s big story!
Anna Wintour's (Semi) Exit Interview
Anna Wintour is the only Vogue editor-in-chief in more than five decades to relinquish her position by choice.
In 1971, Diana Vreeland was fired and replaced by Grace Mirabella. Mirabella was then fired and replaced by Anna in 1988. Both episodes were somewhat ugly. Vreeland was furious over the decision, though she went on to considerable success as special consultant at the Met’s Costume Institute. Mirabella found out about her firing from her husband, who called after he saw it on the news. She went on to launch her own magazine, Mirabella, but never reclaimed the clout she held as Vogue’s editor.
Anna leaves the role very differently — on her terms, but also: with a video podcast!
Specifically The New Yorker Radio Hour, where she was interviewed by New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick. She made clear she would depart the job without bitterness, drama, or deep reflection on what she has meant as the leader of Vogue and the fashion industry for the last 37 years.
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